Germany refused Belarusian economy minister admittance to Munich conference

The commissioner for human rights and humanitarian aid in the Foreign Office of the Federal Government of Germany Markus Löning believes that it is necessary to extend the list of Belarusian officials against which sanctions are to be imposed.

“The position of Germany is that it is necessary to renew the previously lifted sanctions against Belarusian officials and to extend the list of these officials,” Markus Löning stated on Saturday at a press-conference in Minsk, Interfax-Zapad informs.

“As an example of expanding the circle of the officials, I can give the fact that the invitation for the international conference in Munich has been cancelled for the Belarusian economy minister,” the commissioner for human rights said.

He also noted that he had come to Minsk in order to “demand release of the arrested former presidential candidates and other arrested.”

Markus Löning has also noted that “the necessity of sanctions would be no necessity of sanctions if the repeat presidential election could be held in Belarus, arrested would be released, and officials responsible for the events would be brought to account. But it is unlikely.”

“Certainly, holding a repeat presidential election would be desirable, but our primarily desire and requirement is release of the arrested, dismissing charges, access of lawyers, relatives to them, and proper medical aid for them,” the ombudsman said.

He underlined that “these are not conditions under which Belarus would be able to receive something, it is a demand. It is unacceptable that in the centre of Europe citizens of the state were not able to exercise their right for assembly.”

Markus Löning also said that during his visit to Minsk he had a meeting at the Foreign Ministry of Belarus, where he also expressed his demand to release the prisoners.

Touching upon shutting of the OSCE office in Minsk, Markus Löning underlined that Germany “is interested in cooperation of Belarus and the OSCE to be continued in full.”

Asked by a journalist to comment on the statements of the newspaper “Belarus Segodnya. Sovetskaya Belorussiya” the piece of information that special services of Germany allegedly were related to the events of December 19, 2010 in Minsk, he called that “utter insanity”.